Australian police arrest two in connection with gunman Dezi Freeman

Nine/A Current Affair

Australian police have arrested two men in connection with Dezi Freeman, the conspiracy theorist gunman who was shot dead by police after a seven-month manhunt in March.

Freeman had gone on the run in August after shooting dead two police officers who came to execute a search warrant at his home in Porepunkah in rural Victoria.

He was located about 150km (93 miles) away, hiding on a remote farm and police said at the time they believed he must have had help escaping from Porepunkah.

On Tuesday police said they had arrested two men aged 48 and 45 at separate locations in Victoria, adding that they would be interviewed by police.

"The investigation remains ongoing and as such, we are not in a position to provide further details at this immediate time," police said.

In August last year, ten police officers had been sent to Freeman's property to serve an arrest warrant for historical sex offences. They were attacked and two senior constables - Neal Thompson and Vadim de Waart - were killed by Freeman.

Freeman then disappeared into dense bushland, sparking one of Australia's largest ever manhunts.

In March, a tip-off led police to a container on a camp at a farm in remote Victoria. Freeman was shot dead after a three-hour stand-off when he emerged wrapped in a blanket and holding a gun he had taken from one of the dead police officers.

Freeman, whose real name was Desmond Filby, was a self-described "sovereign citizen", part of an anti-government movement that rejects authority and laws.

On Monday, a hearing at a Victorian coroners court heard that the warrant being executed in August came after the disclosure of an alleged sexual assault involving a child, as well as an attempt to involve a child in the production of child abuse material.

Counsel assisting, Lindsay Spence, told the court that Freeman had refused to come out of the converted bus where he was living and shot Thompson when he attempted to climb through a window. He shot de Waart as the remaining officers began to retreat.

Freeman then shot Thompson again with de Waart's weapon, Spence said.

The court will hold two separate inquests, one into the death of Thompson and de Waart, and one into the death of Freeman.